Improvement in fire-arms



11 E. SOMES. Muzzle-Loading Ordnance.

No. 39.592. Patented Aug. 18, 1863.

fizz/e72 Z012- NFE um WASHINGYON. ofc

DANIEL E. SOMES, OF WVASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

. IMPROVEMENT IN FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 39,592, dated August18, 1863.

T0 aZZ whom/it may concern/:-

Be it known that I, DANIEL E. SoMEs, of

WVashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare that'the following isa full and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters ofreference marked thereon.

The object of my invention is to produce a gun or cannon of such a formand construction that when it is fired the ball shall be firmly held inthe barrel until the maximum explosive force of the charge is attained,and that the ball shall then be instantaneously liberated, thusdischarging it from the barrel with the maximum force of the charge. Toaccomplish this object I make a cannon of the form and constructionshown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents across-sectional view,

. and Fig. 2 represents a longitudinal sectional view, of my cannon.

a represents the solid part, and I) the bore, of a cannon having itsbreech, which is not fully shown in the drawings, at d.

e e e are bolts or slides projecting into the bore of the cannon, andhaving the ends thus projecting beveled to an inclined plane, with thefacetoward the breech of the gun, and incli'ned to such an angle thatany solid substance passing through the bore from the breech t0 themuzzle of the gun with sufficient force and coming contact in with thebolts or slides will force them back out of the bore of the gun. Thesebolts are formed with solid heads, whichrest upon the shoulders hhh.Springs f f f are inserted between the bolts and the gage-screws g g 9.By means of the gage-screws the springs can be so adjusted as to causethe bolts 6 e e to resist any required force from the ball. The barrelin the vicinity of this apparatus must be re-enforced in order to makeup for deficiency of strength caused by the aperture for the bolts,springs, and gage-screws.

\Vith a gun thus constructed the object of my invention is realized inthe following manner:

It is awell-known fact that all the gunpowder employed in chargingfire-arms is never ignited before the ball leaves the gun, and that theprocess of ignition is not by any meansinstantaneous. As a necessaryconsequence, a great deal of the force of the charge is lostby theescape of the ball from the barrel before the powder is fully ignitedand its gases expanded; but in my improved gun the bolts or slides e e0, held in position by the stout spring f f, arrest the progress of theball upon its first attempt to leave the barrel and hold it confined inthat position until the powder is fully ignited and-the maximum force ofthe charge is reached, when the ball passes the obstructing bolts orslides and leaves the barrel with increased force and velocityproportionate to the amount of force concentrated upon it as it passesthe slides or bolts.

One advantage of a cannon thus constructed is in the smaller amount ofmetal required for a given caliber, as in guns previously invented thebarrels are made of great length, in order that the ball may not beexpelled from them before the powder shall have been fully ignited. Inmy improved gun, on the contrary, this is unnecessary, as the ball isprevented from leaving the barrel until the maximum force is attained bythe opposing slides or bolts.

My improved gun may be made very short, and a part of the metal nowrequired in other guns may be used to increase the size of mine.' Inother words, I make my improved gun shorter and thicker than others aremade, and with the same weight of metal it will resist a much greaterpressure from the charge.

I do not wish to confine myself to the use of the bolts or slides e e e,as shown in the drawings, but may use in their place springs of anyform,which will at first impede the progress of the ball, and willafterward allow it, when actuated by the maximum force of the charge,

to pass them; nor do I wish, when using the bolts or slides, asdescribed above, to confine myself to the use of a spiral spring aloneto hold them in position, but may use instead any form of spring or anyelastic substance; nor do I wish to confine myself to the use of springsor other elastic substance attached to the gun, in order to act upon theball, so as to resists its passage from the barrel; but I may attachsuch springs or elastic substance to the ball in order that it may actupon the barrel 2. The sliding bolts 6 e e, the springs f f f, of thegun, it being so constructed as to proand the gage-screws g g g,substantially as and duce the same result in either case. for thepurpose described.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- D. ESOMES.

1. The construction of a" gun, so that, by means of springs or theirequivalents, the ball Vitnesses:

0r projectile shall be held at any given point J As. O. STROUT, of thebarrel until any required force of the LYSANDER HILL.

charge is exerted upon it.

